By Terry Bowden, Yahoo! Sports
November 19, 2007
There is a direct correlation between the age and experience of a head coach and his concern about injuries. That is, the older he is, the more he worries. As I talked with head coaches this summer about their prospects for the upcoming season, the guys who had been around the longest and had seen the most all were concerned about the same thing – injuries.
"We'll be fine if we don't have too many injuries."
"We can't afford to get anybody hurt."
"If we can just stay healthy …"
Those old codgers are looking prophetic this week after the No. 2 (Oregon) and No. 3 (Oklahoma) teams were beaten and dropped out of the national title race. Not only did Oregon and Oklahoma suffer devastating injuries, but they came to the one irreplaceable player on the field – the quarterback.
Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, the nation's top-rated quarterback in passing efficiency, suffered a head injury in the first quarter with the Sooners leading 7-3 and did not return. Texas Tech scored the next 24 points an unranked team upset a top-five team and for the 11th time this season.
Arizona pulled the same feat Thursday night in Tucson. Oregon was up 8-0 on Arizona Thursday night after a beautiful 39-yard touchdown run – and nifty two-point play – by Heisman hopeful quarterback Dennis Dixon on the opening series. But later in the first quarter, Dixon crumpled to the ground without being touched, holding his knee and writhing in pain. He did not return and the unranked Wildcats upset the Ducks 34-24.
Both Oregon and Oklahoma were in a position to play for the national championship when their quarterbacks were injured. Now, both team's seasons will be over when the title game is played.
The losing coaches said after the game they could have done this or that to win, but without a miraculous recovery for their star players, it wasn't going to happen. The fact is, they never would have been in the championship hunt without these guys, and no one on their bench could come close to replacing them. Dixon and Bradford are two of the best in the business and very seldom does a team have two guys ready to play quarterback at that level at the same time.
The quarterback position is different than any other on the field. If a runner gets hurt, you can pass it. If a corner gets hurt you can play zone. But if a quarterback gets hurt, you can't play defense for 60 minutes. He touches the ball on half of the plays. At no other position do you have to give the first-teamer two-thirds of the repetitions in practice just to get him ready. Plus, if you are a national championship contender, it is probably because your quarterback is a special player.
That is why coaches who have withstood the test of time bemoan the possibility of injuries. It is the one factor they can't overcome by coaching.
Speaking of coaching, there isn't much offense going on in the Big Ten this year. I broadcasted Ohio State's 14-3 win over Michigan, which was about as exciting as watching paint dry. Don't get me wrong, it was a great victory for Ohio State and Jim Tressel proved again he is one of the best at winning big games. But for the average fan, it just wasn't much fun. Even with a 62-yard touchdown run by Buckeye tailback Chris Wells, there were only 370 yards of total offense between the teams (91 for Michigan). That would not have been a good half for Kansas or Missouri. If you look at the Big Ten, there is not a single team ranked in the top 25 in total offense or scoring offense. In fact, the top four teams in the league in total offense are Northwestern (31), Michigan State (35), Purdue (T-37) and Illinois (T-37).
Finally, it looks like, for at least this week, that the national championship game will come down to LSU, Kansas, Missouri, West Virginia, Arizona State and Ohio State. My big question is, other factors not withstanding, if Kansas and Missouri lose, and West Virginia and Arizona State win out, will Ohio State jump over both of them to get back into the championship game?
Terry Bowden is Yahoo! Sports' college football analyst. For more information about Terry, visit his official web site.
Send Terry a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast. Updated on Monday, Nov 19, 2007 3:57 pm, EST Email to a Friend | View Popular
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